local government

Alice Schroeder, a former Wall Street analyst and the author of the only approved biography of Warren Buffet, has Meredith Whitney's back. She says the macro view that Whitney presents on U.S. states and municipalities is largely correct.…

Jim Grant's contention is that you don't need to be a stargazer to be worried about Munis. You just have to look at the low interest rates.  In his view, bond yields do not compensate buyers for the interest rate risk, let alone other…

In the video below, David Wessel argues forcefully that we are seeing four big issues. State and local revenue i.e. their tax base has been decimated by the downturn at the same time as many turn to government to keep their heads above…

By Annaly Capital Management Lost in the headlines over the state of the expense side of municipal finances is the fact that tax revenues are rising at the state and local level. The U.S. Census Bureau tracks the various line items of…

By Annaly Capital Management Senator Rand Paul is on the tape promising to unveil a budget with $500 billion in expense cuts in one year, and that he will not spare any government program or agency from his scythe, including the Defense…

Frederick J. Sheehan is the author of Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession  (McGraw-Hill, 2009) and "The Coming Collapse of the Municipal Bond…

It's high time I laid my cards on the table about 2011. I have hinted around my view in previous posts, promising to spell it out in detail. So, here it is: I am cautiously optimistic on the US and global economy for 2011. Let me explain…

We are now seeing almost all our sell signals go off and we recommend clients hedge portfolios and reduce market exposure. We have advised clients in the past to hedge their portfolios and reduce exposure when all our sell signals have gone…

Here is a good segment on CNBC that takes another look at the muni issue which Chris Christie and Meredith Whitney raised on 60 Minutes on Sunday.  Benjamin Thompson of Samson Capital says he can't get the numbers Meredith Whitney used…

Today's financial news with stories on Europe's sovereign debt crisis, state budgets, and recent banking-related stories plus much more.